Japan football season to coincide with European counterparts

The J-League season kicks off in the northern hemisphere spring and finishes in the autumn, while in Europe teams relax during the most of the summer months.

"Football should not be done in the summer. Players cannot move well," Motoaki Inukai said.

"I want to adjust the J-League season to Europe. We are considering starting it in 2010."

"There are many problems to overcome, but we just need to solve them step by step," he said, according to Kyodo News and sports dailies.

Changing to the European season would provide J-League clubs with more chances to buy foreign players and give Japanese players better opportunities to join overseas clubs.

The J-League had originally planned to switch to the European-type season by 2006. But the plan was put on hold as it was seen difficult for clubs in snowy regions to secure grounds for matches and training in the winter months.

Inukai said he wanted to start the 2010-2011 season after the World Cup finals in South Africa.

The period between the end of the old-format 2009 season and the World Cup could be covered by a special tournament, he said.